Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch touts broadband expansion to rural counties

Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch talks to the Muncie-Delaware County Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 20 inside the Horizon Convention Center. Crouch spoke about business efforts across the state including a push for broadband expansion in rural Indiana.(Photo: Corey Ohlenkamp/Star Press)

MUNCIE, Ind. – Speaking to the Muncie-Delaware County Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch touted state efforts to improve infrastructure including Hoosiers' access to broadband in an attempt to spur statewide economic growth.

The effort will focus on underserved areas in rural Indiana where providers argue it’s cost-prohibitive to provide high speed internet access.

Purdue’s dataset looked at the number of Hoosiers where providers advertised at least 25 Megabits per second download speeds and at least 3 Megabits per second upload.

The study excluded satellite connection, which covers the entire state, because expense, data caps and service interruptions make it an unreliable form of data connectivity. Multiple counties, especially in the southwest portion of the state rely primarily on satellite for data connection.

Other East Central Indiana counties were significantly lower. Blackford only had 84 percent and Jay County had 79 percent. Randolph County came in at 65 percent.

“That ability to be connected via the internet is extremely important,” Crouch said. “Rural Indiana and the Hoosiers who call it home should have equal access to that technology… to that quality of life that people in more urban areas do."

The rest of the money in the Next Level Connections program has been set aside to grow the state’s systems of trails, create more nonstop international flights, and move up the completion of major highway projects.

Crouch and other officials have said broadband investment could have serious returns for the state and local economies. The Purdue study found that for every dollar invested in rural broadband, Indiana’s economy would quadruple the investment.

Indiana isn’t alone with broadband issues.

In a Pew Research Center survey, around a quarter of rural Americans say access to high-speed internet is a major problem. According to that study, an additional 34 percent of rural residents across the country see this as a minor problem, meaning roughly six out of 10 rural Americans believe access to high speed internet is a problem in their area.

Roberto Gallardo, assistant director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development, came to several conclusions via the Purdue study that Crouch also cited.

Beyond broadband access, Crouch touted efforts by local business and education leaders in Delaware County for their continuing efforts.

Crouch spoke briefly about different projects that have impacted the area ranging from the Erskine Green Training Institute's training efforts to large-scale investments like the new facility to produce zinc oxide and iron concentrate at the former BorgWarner facility.